TANSTAAFL — Funding Top T
Someone I’m working with asked for a quick response as they were seeing a potential funder. I sent them this — how did I do?
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The main thing to keep in mind for a funder is, what are you giving them? In business, this will be ROI — you put X in, you get Y back by Z date.
In non-profit, they are still looking for outcomes, for example:
- how you’re hitting specific targets they have (funding bodies have metrics)
- how you will publicise their sponsorship (arts funding)
The more tangible you can make this, the better, for example, “We will use your money to buy books and run a workshop” is more solid than, “we’ll take your money and ponder how we will change the world” :)
So,
- This is the money we need
- This is how we will spend it
- This is what we (and you) will get out of that
- Here are our mechanisms to ensure it happens properly (people in roles, plans etc)
The last point is important for you and them — assess any risks and define how you might mitigate them in advance. You might not want to share all of this, but it’s a useful exercise and you could share what you are doing to maximise success.